Paulie’s back.

Paul O’Connell has joined the Ireland U20 Coaching staff as an Assistant Coach starting today ahead of festive fixtures v Leinster A & Munster A.

The former Ireland and Lions captain has been working closely with the Munster academy in recent months, and also briefly assisted Bernard Jackman while he was at Grenoble on a consultancy basis.

He’s most recently been linked with a role at Leicester Tigers, but has now committed his future, at least for now, to Ireland and their coaching team. The news comes as a huge boost to Irish Rugby, with one of it’s most respected and well-known players now set to become an integral part of the system.

O’Connell’s coaching plans have been relatively unknown until now, but this latest news has assured us that he is keen to progress.